Saffire Freycinet

A roofline that curves like the wings of a stingray rises from the coastal heath above Coles Bay, and behind it every one of the 20 suites at Saffire Freycinet looks the same way: across Great Oyster Bay to the pink granite peaks of the Hazards. The lodge sits on Tasmania's east coast at the entrance to Freycinet National Park, on land that was once a caravan park.

History

Saffire Freycinet opened in May 2010. It was built by Federal Group, the Tasmanian company that also owns the Wrest Point casino in Hobart and the Country Club in Launceston, and it was conceived as the state's first lodge aimed squarely at the international luxury traveller. The site had been a caravan and camping ground; the owners cleared it and replanted native species so that the building would recede into the scrub. Within a few years of opening it was collecting the main Australian tourism awards and had become the reference point for a new wave of small lodges in Tasmania.

Architecture and design

The lodge was designed by the Hobart practice Circa Morris-Nunn, led by Robert Morris-Nunn. Its main building is an organic curve of Tasmanian timber and glass whose roof is usually compared to a stingray or a breaking wave. Inside, the main lounge and the restaurant open through full-height glass to the bay. The suites are placed in a line along the slope below so that none blocks another's view. Materials are local wherever possible: Tasmanian oak, local sandstone and stone from the island, with the timber left to weather.

Rooms and suites

There are 20 suites in three categories. Luxury Suites and Signature Suites are the two base types; the Private Pavilions are larger, stand on their own and have plunge pools and outdoor areas. All have king beds, a sitting area, a deep bath and a terrace facing the Hazards. There is no reception desk in the usual sense, and guests are met by name. Rates are all-inclusive: meals, most drinks, the minibar and a daily programme of guided experiences are in the price, which is why the lodge is usually sold as a two- or three-night stay.

Dining

Palate is the lodge's single restaurant, open to guests only and run as a degustation and à la carte kitchen built on Tasmanian produce: oysters from the bay below, lamb, local cheeses and east coast wine. Breakfast and lunch are served in the same glass-walled room. Guests can also be taken, in waders, into the shallows of a working oyster lease at Freycinet to eat Pacific oysters straight from the water with a glass of sparkling wine; it is the lodge's best-known experience and the picture most often used of it.

Wellness

Spa Saffire has treatment rooms with bay views and uses products based on Tasmanian botanicals. There is a gym. The lodge has no large pool; the Private Pavilions have plunge pools, and the bay is a few steps away.

Weddings and events

Saffire takes small weddings and private celebrations, typically for parties who book a large part or all of the 20 suites, with ceremonies on the deck or lawn overlooking the bay and dinner in Palate. Its size rules out conferences; small boardroom-style retreats have been held in the lodge, and full buy-outs are sold.

Location

Coles Bay is on the Freycinet Peninsula, about two and a half hours by road from Hobart and two hours from Launceston, both of which have airports with flights from Sydney and Melbourne. The lodge keeps a Tasmanian devil enclosure on the grounds as part of a conservation programme for the species, and arranges walks to Wineglass Bay, kayaking in the bay and visits to the Freycinet Marine Farm. The peninsula's granite, its white sand and a climate among the mildest in Tasmania make the east coast the usual way into the island for travellers who come for food and wine; for a luxury hotel in Coles Bay, Saffire has the national park on one side and the oyster beds on the other.